The Art of Pain

I was so unfortunate to have a friend that got hold of one of the copies at the festival. He was so proud that he made me watch it which i really count as intellectual assault! The acting is really poor, the plot is weird and just because you arbitrarily mix up genres doesn't mean you create a new one.

Don't believe the reviews on this one, the film crew seems to be pretty desperate and busy on writing them to make a few people watch it.

Nice effort guys, but everything you create is Disappointment. Solicit this film for what it is, a senseless, stupid, no-point-making, B-Ninja-Zombie-Trash-Film.

There are people out there who could like stuff like that, THESE are your customers, not the people you make expect Oscar-worthy performances with your crap!

2/10 for 2 to 3 benevolent laughs

Art of Pain is an excellent example of all that is good in Independent film-making. A fun, amusing, well made feature that gives the viewer 90 minutes (or so) of solid entertainment. A mashup of styles and genres that does what films like this are supposed to do, entertain.

With quirky writing and cleaver dialogue the film pulls you along and keeps you chuckling all the way through. It's a film for people who get IT whatever IT is. And IT can be different for different people, that's why it's so good.

Definitely catch a screening if you can and hopefully you'll be able to grab it on DVD sooner rather than later.

Inspiration is a coy mistress. Many an artist has grappled with her elusive nature through the ages to achieve greatness. And while muses and narcotics have come to the aid of some struggling for the creative impulse, "The Art of Pain" reveals a more reliable method: absolute devastation, courtesy of a rampant ninja.

Hot off of winning the Audience Award last spring at the Sunscreen Film Festival, Chicagoan writer/director Matt Brookens's "The Art of Pain" follows the mission of Marcus (John LaFlamboy), a greaser ninja desperate to win the approval of his demanding sensei (Arvin Jalandoon) and, consequently, his black belt. Marcus is told he lacks creativity and distinction, which he decides to remedy by exploiting the same qualities in someone else.

After gaining employment at a multiplex, Marcus recognizes his new coworker Jack (Anders Erickson) from high school. Back then, Jack was an avid painter, but Marcus can see that the complacency born of his job and his pretty girlfriend Sharon (Lauren Bishop) are stifling his potential. The combination of an informative run-in with George Romano (actually played by Lloyd Kaufman of the "Toxic Avenger" series), and a drug-fueled trip that brings the zombie metaphor to life, lead Marcus to hatch a pain-inflicting plan.

By systematically destroying Jack's sparse but content existence, Marcus hopes to wrench emotive paintings from him that will land him a contract to produce a mural for a new high rise. Jack's masterpieces would thus make Marcus a winner, apparently in accordance with the distributive property. His first step in releasing Jack's untapped talent is to start tapping his girlfriend, which leads to a hilarious public falling out between the lovers as well as an artistic awakening. And Marcus's tactics only get more brutal from there.

Centering as it does on artistic impulses and the creative brain, "The Art of Pain" intuitively manifests this world in the relationship between Jack and his geeky best friend Nick (Greg Brookens). As the pair brainstorm about a comic they're making together featuring the mythological Skunk Ape, animated characters spill across the screen. Additionally, their shared visualization of the great beyond and even their commonplace conversations teem with the originality that Marcus covets.

Meanwhile, Marcus inhabits a completely different universe from his coworkers. Ample showdowns with his sensei and fellow students take place in Chicago, but they achieve the imperial kung fu vibe. This is mainly thanks to the actors' expert handling of the fight choreography, which often includes authentic weaponry. Marcus's appearance at the mundane movie theatre is thereby initially hard to fathom, but later on, his guerilla attacks profit from his eccentric image.

"The Art of Pain" is built on a sadistic premise, but it's great fun watching it unfold. Characters like Peppito the perverted projectionist (Marshall Bean) and Charlie the effete manager (Jake Hames) pepper the theatre scenes, threatening to steal several of them. Also riotous to behold is the sheer number of ways someone can get his ass kicked; new weapons are literally invented for the cause.

With an alchemized mixture of gore and jest, "The Art of Pain" has the ability to gag, slay, and -- above all -- entertain.

Easy. The people who produce, direct, and act in the garbage review the movie themselves. Since very few people want to waste their time reviewing garbage, they don't bother to refute the stupid, obviously skewed reviews. Its pretty easy to spot these turd movies. If you haven't ever heard of it before, and it has any ten star reviews, some unethical sh1th3@d wrote a fake review for it to sucker you into watching it. This movie was so bad I couldn't get through the first twenty minutes of it. I didn't pay a dime to see it, but I felt as if the producers owed me my $14 back. If this movie made it to the theater and it sold one ticket, it would probably have made a profit. I'm betting everyone in the movie probably worked for free just so they could say "I was in a movie!". I think the production company trolled the soup kitchens for the acting and filming staff, paid them in garbage and cardboard, and they still didn't get their money's worth. I give this production 28 thumbs down, which means I had to hack off 26 human hands just to show you, the reader of this review, how strongly I disliked this movie. Avoid this steaming pile at all costs.

As a fan of independent film, I have screened the work of plenty of hopeful young artists, looking for some attention and a chance to make a living at something they love. Just by sheer odds, there are going to be a good number of stinkers in the bunch, but also some genuine surprises. "The Art of Pain" happened to be one of the latter.

Jack is an aspiring illustrator and painter who bides his time in a minimum wage movie theater job with his friend Nick and girlfriend Sharon. The arrival of a new employee, Marcus, creates chaos for everyone, particularly Jack, who Marcus adopts in a twisted attempt at creating his own legacy.

"The Art of Pain" takes its inspiration straight from the world of B-movies. A lot of movies like to ape martial arts and zombie film conventions, but most of them forget to build some character and story in to keep your interest beyond cheap thrills. The story of the slacker artist is also overdone by young filmmakers, but this version brings a new thematic twist with Marcus, an antagonist who is actually seeking to leave his creative mark on the world just like the hero, Jack. The result is a movie that delivers some fun through in its winking nods to genre, but not at the expense of the characters and a building plot.

Not to say "The Art of Pain" is a perfect film. It might benefit from slight trimming and some newbie mistakes stick out for those who watch movies relentlessly. The performances are above average for this kind of low budget film, but some are broad and others are more subtle.

The film is incredibly ambitious in terms of visual design. The opening sequence is a tribute to kung-fu films made to look vintage (a la "Grindhouse"). Marcus seems to ride in out of a 50s biker film, complete with a rear-projection backdrop. There is at least one elaborate visual effects-driven montage, and also a fun little sequence featuring creature illustrations that move among people. Some might be distracted by the variety, and the work isn't always perfect, but it's encouraging to see a first feature that understands the language of film visuals.

But in the world of independent film-making, I believe it all comes back to character and story, and the makers of "The Art of Pain" already have a good understanding of how these things affect audiences. I am eagerly anticipating the follow-up to this one.